Snowpeak Christmas
by Shadow Commando
Summary: Modern TP. While spending Christmas with his family on Mount Snowpeak, Link discovers a strange imp freezing to death in the snow and brings her in from the cold.
1. December 22

**Hey, it's me, TC. I know I haven't updated in a while, so I thought I'd get my author skills up and running again by bringing you all a christmas story with LinkxMidna fluff. :3**

**Although, I do think it's fair to warn yu that this is my first serious fic, so bear with me. If I made any mistakes, or need to improve my writing, let me know in the reviews. Again, this is my first serious attempt at a fic, so my writing may need more practice.**

Chapter 1  
(Hylian Airlines Flight 316/ 3:30 PM)

"Link…Link, wake up." said Zelda, nudging her brother awake.

"Hmm?" said Link, opening his eyes for the first time in two hours.

"We're about to land." said Zelda pointing outside the window, indicating the ground below, which was getting closer as the plane descended.

Link's family had decided to go spend Christmas at a ski resort on Snowpeak Mountain in Northern Hylia, so they all got on planes and would meet up at the Snowpeak airport at the base of the mountain. From what Link had heard, they wouldn't be the only ones going there, his aunts, uncles, cousins, and even his grandparents would be there, all in the same place, which excited him since he normally didn't get to see his grandparents, or his cousins, Joel and Zill, since they lived on Outset Island, down in the Dragon Gulf, and when he did go to see them, his other relatives stayed behind in Ordon, but at least this Christmas would be different.

Link thought of this with fondness as the plane came into contact with the runway and began to slow down. Soon after, everyone got up out of their seats and either stretched, or got their luggage out of the compartments above their seats.

Zelda was going through her various utilities; ipod, laptop, gum, making sure they were all there while she waited for everyone to start leaving the plane. As she put everything back into her bag, she heard several distinct popping noises and turned to see Link bending and twisting himself in several different positions. He sure was a stiff.

"Too much time sitting down?" she asked, closing her bag.

"That, and I haven't used the bathroom in almost 4 hours." said Link, pulling his own bag out of the compartment.

"Poor baby." said Zelda sarcastically.

Right about then, everyone aboard started moving toward the exits. The twins followed in suite. After worming through the jet way for what seemed like several minutes, they finally made it out and had to wait several more minutes before some familiar faces began to emerge from said jet way. The first was Link and Zelda's younger brother, Colin, followed by their parents, Rusl and Uli.

"Did you see your aunt Sera or anyone else, yet?" asked Rusl, approaching them.

"Not yet, we were near the door when we got off, so they're probably still getting out." replied Link.

No sooner had he finished when a small blond girl charged out of the crowd and jumped into Link's arms.

"Will you carry me the rest of the way?" she asked.

"Sorry, Beth, you're heavy enough, already." joked Link.

Despite being his cousin, Beth often told Link she was his number one fan. Why she behaved this way, Link did not know, though he assumed it had something to do with him "being the big brother that she never had" as her mother, Sera, put it.

"I see your number one fan caught up with you again." said Sera, exiting the jet way with her husband, Haunch.

"And he's got you to take her off his hands." laughed Uli.

"So where's Gramma, isn't she supposed to be here?" asked Colin who was standing next to his mother.

She said she'd be in C5, so we'll check over there." replied Rusl as Jaggle, Pergie, and their sons, Talo and Malo exited the jet way.

They were about to head over to section C, but before they could even turn the corner, Granny came around and nearly bumped into them.

"Age sure hasn't slowed you down." said Rusl.

"You're only as young as you feel, my boy. Besides, it's not often I get to see the entire family together in one place." replied Gramma turning her attention to the children.

As always, she needed a hug from everyone, which took almost a full minute. Afterward, Link had to introduce to Gramma his cousins from the other side of the family. Gramma was Rusl, Sue-Belle, and Abe's mom, so Joel and Zill were cousins to Link from Rusl's side of the family, while Uli and her sisters, Pergie and Sera, were from the other side, which meant that Talo, Malo, and Beth had never met Link's Gramma from Outset before, but from what Link could see, the old woman seemed just as delighted to see them. Talo and Beth quickly warmed up to her, especially after she handed them candy, while Malo, still a baby, looked uneasy being around what he perceived to be a stranger, so Gramma handed him back to Pergie before he started making a scene.

"Wait a minute, where's Grampa?" asked Zelda noticing Gramma was the only one who had met up with them.

"Oh, that's right, I left him back at the exit." replied Gramma turning and heading back toward Exit C. Everyone else had no choice but to follow.

They made their way past E and D and finally made it to C, but with so many people standing around, it was hard to tell where Grampa Sturgeon was since Link had never seen him, or anyone from Outset, wearing a winter coat before.

"So where'd everyone run off to?" asked Zelda.

"They're over there." said Gramma pointing to the baggage claim where everyone was picking bags off a conveyor belt. It was still hard to tell who in the crowd was from Outset since no one knew what coats they were wearing until Gramma walked up to a bald man who was the same height as her and must have told him about the rest of the family because then he turned around, revealing himself to be Grampa Sturgeon, and rushed toward everyone with his arms outstretched, wanting to hug everyone in the group, too, but he wasn't the only one. Link could also spy his great Uncle Orca, Grampa Sturgeon's brother, standing next to his shorter sibling. He could also see Aunt Sue-Belle with her husband, Mesa. There was also Uncle Abe and Aunt Rose. Link knew that someone was missing but couldn't quite put his finger on it with so many family members to keep track of, but then, out of nowhere came two small tots slightly younger than Talo and Beth. Link recognized them as none other than his other cousins, Joel and Zill, and barely had enough time to brace himself before they pounced at him, wrapping their arms around him.

"OOF! You guys weigh a ton. Last time I saw you, I could almost hold you in my hands." said Link.

"How do you know? You haven't even tried lifting us since." said Joel grabbing Link's right arm while Zill grabbed his left.

"Okay, here goes." said Link lifting both his arms up slowly. With little effort, he lifted both siblings off their feet and had one kid hanging off each arm. Everyone around him applauded.

"Whoa, I wanna be just like you when I grow up, Link." said Joel, thoroughly impressed.

"I see you haven't lost your popularity with the kids." said aunt Rose who had just returned from the baggage claim with her husband, Abe, both carrying backpacks, presumably Joel and Zill's.

"I can take those." said Link taking both backpacks.

"Thanks, Link, you're the best." said Zill.

"So that's why they love you." said Uncle Mesa with amusement.

After everyone finished exchanging greetings, the pack got their luggage together and headed out the exit where a pair of vans awaited them.

"You Mr. Faron?" asked one of the drivers.

"That would be me, and this is the rest of my family." replied Rusl.

"Gotcha, one way trip to Snowpeak Mountain." said the driver as he and his partner helped everyone load their bags onto the vans. Then everyone climbed aboard one van or the other and the vehicles took them up a path through the mountain until they reached a mansion looking house, more than halfway up the mountain.

"Whoa, a mansion? I thought it was going to be some log cabin type place." said Talo.

"Are you kidding? None of the cabins are big enough to house all of us. Not to mention the mansion looks a lot nicer." replied Rusl.

Everyone got their bags out of the vans and brought them inside the big house and set them down in the front room where two staircases where located opposite of each other.

"This must have cost a lot." said Sera in astonishment.

"Actually, I had a bit of help." confessed Rusl. Orca gave him a wink.

"Well, first things first, we should get our stuff set in our bedrooms." suggested Zelda.

Everyone then set out looking for their bedrooms while Rusl grabbed Uli's hand and led her to a secret bedroom located in a stone tower on the other side of the mansion's courtyard. The bedroom had everything, from a king size bed with fancy interior, to a Christmas Tree with wine and grapes underneath it. It even had a large window overlooking the courtyard.

"Wow, you really know how to impress a woman." laughed Uli.

--------

(Link and Colin's Room)

Link had just finished putting his spare clothes away in his dresser and was helping Colin put his away when Talo and Beth burst into the room and hopped onto Link's bed. The first thing Link noticed was that they were in their snow suits. Talo had a red coat and black snow pants with a brown ushanka hat on his head, while Beth had a purple coat and white snow pants.

"Let's go sledding down the mountain!" they shouted.

_At least they're not asking me to tell them stories._ thought Link, "Have you asked your parents, yet?"

The smiles faded from the children's faces.

"Not yet." replied Talo.

They obviously weren't planning on asking for permission.

"I'll ask them, myself." said Link.

Their faces lit back up.

"What about me?" asked Colin putting away the last of his clothes.

"Depends on how fast you can get your snow suit on." replied Link.

Colin quickly slipped on his blue coat and orange snow pants.

After getting permission from Talo and Beth's parents, Link told Zelda where they were going and got his own snow suit on, which was a dark green coat with black snow pants like Talo's, and the four headed outside.

"How high are you planning on going?" asked Link.

"Let's try up there." said Beth pointing to a slope up on a hill nearby.

They scurried up the hill and Beth went down the hill on her skis, followed by Talo and Colin who both rode on the same sled. Link, however, brought a snowboard, which required a bit more skill. He hoped all the practice he had put into it last Christmas had paid off as he set his boots into the restraints and clicked them shut around his ankles before shifting the board into position.

"It's go time." he muttered as he squatted down and leaned forward slightly, causing the board to slide, carrying him down the hill.

It was all coming back to him, but he still had yet to fully adjust to the momentum and nearly fell but was able to counter himself by leaning to the other side and stayed on the board, but as he saw the three children below him approaching him at high speed, he had another problem: slowing down. Now how was he supposed to stop, again? Link frantically searched his mind, trying to remember how to stop himself on a snowboard when a familiar feat flickered inside his head. For a moment, he knew how, so he quickly turned the board to the left and leaned back slightly to stop, but only succeeded in falling over.

"Ooh, wipeout." said Colin and Talo in unison, their hands in the air.

It was only then that he remembered how to stop and then realized his mistake; he hadn't squatted while turning. This would have allowed him to slow down and then turn sharply in the other direction so he would stop without falling over.

"Are you alright? You don't need me to give you CPR, do you?" asked Beth, looking down at Link who was on his back.

"No, but at least I know what I did wrong." he replied.

"5 rupees says you can't do it again." said Talo holding up a small blue gem.

"5 says he can." said Colin producing a blue gem identical to Talo's.

"You're on." said Link as he trudged back up the hill, set himself onto the snow board once more, and came flying down the hill even faster than before, and without so much as tripping.

Colin and Talo both knew the result even before Link skidded to halt in front of them, covering them in snow.

"Awesome, the ice wolf is back." cheered Beth, referring to the nickname she and Talo had given to Link because of the snow board he used which had a wolf painted on it, hence the nickname.

"Pay up." said Colin with his gloved hand outstretched.

"Errggh." growled Talo as he forked over the blue gem, "I'd like to see you do it from the top of Snowpeak."

As crazy as that sounded, it wasn't what surprised Beth or Colin. What did surprise them was Link's response: "I don't see why not."

"Are you serious?" asked Colin, "It's almost dark."

"It's not that far off. I even have a cell phone and a flare gun, so if something happens and I can't contact you, I'll just shoot the flare up in the air and you can go get help. Just wait for me to get to the top and I'll shine my flashlight down so you'll know I made it and then I'll slide down with my snow board and if I make it down without wiping out, Talo has to run around the snow in his underwear for 20 seconds." said Link.

"Uh, no way. I'll tell everyone you're the coolest guy on earth, but I'm not going around in my underwear." said Talo, crossing his arms.

"Fair enough." said Link as he started walking up the mountain.

At first, it wasn't too difficult. Just trudging upward through thick snow, but as he got higher, the snow seemed to get steeper and steeper until it felt like he was climbing up a wall. Thankfully, he had plenty of fluffy snow to dig his arms and legs into, so he kept going up, though not without stopping to catch a breather every few minutes, but finally, after what seemed like hours of climbing, he found himself staring at an entire mountain range from 25,000 feet. He could safely say he had reached the top of Mount Snowpeak. He glanced at his watch and was surprised to discover he had only been climbing for about 30 minutes. Normally, he would have been impressed, but he had been climbing up the side of the mountain which had been snowed in, so it was only a matter of climbing up a large snow bank. As he sat there catching his breath and staring at the sun setting behind other mountains off in the distance, he felt something move in his pocket. It was his cell phone. He flipped it open and placed it against his ear.

"Are you actually climbing to the top of Mount Snowpeak?" asked Zelda on the other end.

"I made it to the top about a minute ago. Been climbing for a half hour." replied Link.

"That fast? That must be a new record." said Zelda, impressed.

"For speed, maybe, but it wasn't that hard." said Link casually.

"What do you mean?" asked Zelda in disbelief.

"Well the mountain got snowed over, so all I had to do was climb up a big snow hill and now I'm at the top."

"Wait a minute, how do I know you're not lying." snapped Zelda.

"Does your phone take images through email?" asked Link.

"Yeah." replied Zelda.

"Kay, here goes." said Link snapping a shot of all the other mountains and mailing it to Zelda's phone.

"I stand corrected." replied Zelda after a moment of silence.

Just then, Link's phone screen told him that Talo was calling.

"Talo's ringing me, do you mind if I take that call?" asked Link.

"No problem." said Zelda hanging up.

Link pressed the green button on his razor, switching to Talo.

"I just made it to the top." said Link before Talo could even ask.

"Prove it, hot shot," demanded Talo, "show me the light."

"I got a better idea." said Link emailing the same image to Talo's phone since he knew it took pictures like Zelda's.

After a moment of silence, Talo spoke.

"I don't get it, what are you doing?"

"Check your email." replied Link in annoyance.

"Oh…ooohhh." said Talo looking at the picture Link had sent him.

Link could also hear Beth and Colin oohing and aahing with him.

"So you gonna come back down, soon? Everyone will be wondering where we are." continued Talo.

"In a moment, I already told Zelda where I am and I still need to catch my breath. I haven't even been up here for 5 minutes." replied Link.

"Ok, well tell us when you're ready so we can watch you wipe out." said Talo.

"Right." said Link closing his phone. Right now he did not have the energy to think of a clever comeback.

Link dropped his snowboard and fell backward and exhaled sharply as his back hit the soft snow. It was so soft that he felt the tension leaving his back muscles as he writhed around on his temporary mattress before laying perfectly still for a while. He nearly fell asleep, but a cold snowflake on his eyelid woke him back up. He looked at the sun which had almost sunk completely behind a mountain off in the distance. About another 10 minutes till dark. He'd better get going. The rest of the family would definitely be steamed if he waited any longer.

He turned around and saw what looked like a cave etched into some large stones. He had been distracted with the sunset and hadn't noticed the cave behind him. He really needed to get going, but his catlike curiosity got the best of him. He had to at least see what was in it, if anything.

Switching on his flashlight, Link entered the small hole in the rock and saw what looked like a dead end, but upon closer inspection, he saw the floor in front of the wall was missing. He shined his light down the big hole and saw a floor 10 to 15 feet below. This definitely was not an ordinary cave. He was eager to explore the area below, but he wasn't sure if he'd make it back up. As he sat there contemplating this, he heard a faint noise coming from deep within the cave. He listened, and sure enough, he heard it again, except it sounded more like someone gasping.

"Hello?" called Link.

The only reply Link got was sharp, choppy inhaling, what sounded like someone shivering, as the person was trying to respond, but was too cold to say anything. Either way, there was someone down there, possibly a fellow climber, and Link would have to try to help that person.

Grabbing the edge of the floor he was on, Link hoisted himself over it and hung on while searching for a foothold, hoping to find a way back up, and surprisingly, his foot caught onto a small stone that stuck out of the wall. That was easy, but now if he could just find another one. It seemed impossible, but after very little searching, Link found another stone that stuck out, allowing him to lower himself a bit, and to find yet more stones sticking out. By now, it was becoming evident that the wall he was climbing down was dotted with climbing stones, so he was able to lower himself about 10 feet before dropping down the rest of the way and landing on his feet without injury. He shined his light around the room and found himself in a narrow corridor. Only one way to go. He headed down the stone corridor and became blinded by a bright light.

Startled, Link fell backward, but quickly regained his composure and shined his light at whoever had been there a second ago, but to his confusion, the other person mimicked his movements. It seemed strange until Link shined his light up to his own face while the other person did the same, revealing a face identical to Link's. It was a mirror, much to Link's relief, but what was it doing here in a cave on Snowpeak Mountain? Link stuck his hand out and touched the surface of the mirror. Nothing. It didn't seem to be cursed, though Link had his suspicions about the strange runes etched onto the mirror's surface.

As he contemplated this, his cell phone vibrated again, snapping him out of his stupor. He flipped open his razor and placed it to his ear.

"Link, where are you?" asked Rusl on the other end.

"I climbed up to the top of Mount Snowpeak and I found a cave on top with some weird mirror inside, but I'll be coming back now." replied Link.

"Hold on, you found a cave?" asked Rusl.

"Yeah, it was sitting on top of the mountain and I could see it very clearly." said Link.

"Okay, well hurry up and get back, your Gramma is making that soup that she used to make for you when you visited her on Outset island, the kind you said you really liked." said Rusl.

"You mean that elixir soup?" asked Link, excitement in his voice.

"That would be it." replied Rusl.

"Awesome, I'll be right there." said Link.

"Okay, see ya in a bit." said Rusl, hanging up.

Link clicked his phone shut and placed it in his pocket, but as he turned around, he heard that same shivering noise from before, only this time it was coming from right in front of him. Link's blood ran cold as he raised his flashlight, nervous about what he might see, and switched it on, but was surprised to see nothing. Then that noise came again, and Link looked down to see the source of the noise and nearly jumped out of his skin.

Lying at his feet was what looked like a little girl with black and white skin with fiery red hair.

After calming down again, Link took a closer look at her and saw that she looked to be about 2 and a half feet long and had blue runes on her skin that were identical to the ones on the mirror. He could also see why she was shivering: she had nothing on, save for a few torn rags. She looked like she was asleep, though barely, so Link scooped her up in his arms and was shocked to feel her ribs through her rags. The poor girl was starving to death, not to mention freezing, too. No wonder she was half dead. He'd half to get her back to the mansion and get her some hot soup, pronto. Link tucked the small imp into his coat and carefully climbed back up the rocky wall and exited the cave.

He spotted his snow board lying where he'd left it and realized he'd have to leave it since he couldn't ride it down the mountain while holding onto the girl. He needed his arms free to balance himself on the board, which would be impossible to do without dropping the small girl, so he'd have to leave the board for now.

With one arm, he held onto the girl, who had curled up into a ball inside his coat, and with his other arm, dragged the snow board over to the cave where he set it against the wall inside the entrance and then began making his way down the mountain side.

After tumbling and sliding for a good two minutes, Link was finally on solid ground again and could see the mansion a few yards away, so he cradled the imp in his arms and brought her inside to his room and tucked her into his bed and pulled his heat blanket over her and turned it on. He placed his index finger against her neck and was relieved to feel a pulse.

"Link, dinner time." called his mom from the kitchen.

Link hurried to the kitchen where his mom and gramma were making elixir soup in the big stone pot over a fire, doing it the old fashioned way. The aroma of fish, pumpkin, and cheese brought back memories of visiting Gramma and Grampa on Outset Island during his childhood when he used to stuff himself with helping after helping of the stuff, but now it would save a life. Without a word, Link scooped some of the soup out of the stone pot with a bottle and ran back to his room with it

"Where'd he run off to?" asked Gramma in confusion.

"I was hoping you'd know. Usually, he's the one complaining about us never being together." replied Uli.

"Well dinner's almost ready, I'd better find out what's keeping him." said Gramma, putting down her cooking utensils and leaving the kitchen.

"Not without me, you're not." said Uli, following her.

They both followed Link to his room and found him sitting on his bed, but they couldn't see what he was doing.

Link seated himself on the bed beside the Imp who was half asleep and held her head up as he tipped the bottle against her lips so she could taste the soup as it poured into her mouth. Upon tasting it, her eyes opened fully. They were a calm amber, unlike any color Link had ever seen before. The girl quickly lapped at the soup and grasped the bottle with both hands and gulped greedily. Link quickly pulled the bottle out of her feeble grasp before she could finish it all. He was no expert on starvation, but he did know that after starving for so long, if she suddenly stuffed herself, her stomach wouldn't be able to handle it and she would almost literally eat herself to death, so he would have to help her regain her strength slowly, and since she already drank half the bottle, he'd let her sleep it off and see how she felt in the morning.

The small imp didn't seem very pleased at having her only food snatched from her, but soon the soup began to digest in her stomach and she calmed down. Link watched her panting slow to a soft breathing as she dozed off in the warm bed. He had never seen anything as bizarre as the imp that he had taken under his wing, but he was glad she was okay, at least.

"Link, what's going on?"

Link turned to see his mom and Gramma standing in the doorway.

"Dinner's ready and everyone's waiting for you." said Gramma.

"I'll be right there, I just need to make sure this girl is okay." replied Link.

"Girl?" asked Gramma.

"What girl?" asked Uli.

Both women moved over to the bed to get a closer look and gasped when they saw the otherworldly imp in Link's bed.

"I found her on top of Snowpeak Mountain. She was freezing to death and she looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks." said Link.

"We should probably get Sturgeon. He's a doctor." suggested Gramma as she headed toward the dining room.

A moment later, Gramma came back with Grampa Sturgeon, along with Zelda and the children, who were all curious about this girl that Link had found on Mount Snowpeak.

"Whoa, she must have frost bite." said Joel, eyeing the Imp's black and white skin.

"Was she wearing anything else when you found her on Snowpeak?" asked Sturgeon as he examined the girl's ragged clothing.

"That was all she had on, although I found her in a cave, so she was shielded from the snow outside." replied Link. "I also fed her some soup since she looked like she was starving, though I had to stop halfway so she wouldn't hurt herself."

"A wise decision." said Sturgeon as he continued to examine the girl before coming to his conclusion.

"Well, it looks like she only suffered some bruises, though from what, I do not know, but she's also been without food for sometime, so she'll need time to digest the soup you gave her, as well as rest, so the best thing we can do for now is let her sleep and see how she feels in the morning." continued Sturgeon.

"Hold on, you say you found her in a cave. What else did you see there?" asked Zelda.

"Oh yeah, there was also a mirror, one with markings on it that were similar to the ones on the girl's arms." said Link.

Sturgeon turned to Link.

"A mirror with markings?" he asked, as if it sounded familiar.

"Yeah, it had the same markings etched into it's surface as the ones on her arms." replied Link, pointing to the Imp.

Sturgeon stared back at the markings on the girl's arms and took out a notebook he kept with him and copied down the markings and left the room.

"Well, Sturgeon's right, we'll have to wait until morning. Until then, we should probably get back to business since dinner is getting cold, and I wouldn't want Uli's and my mom's hard work to go to waste." said Rusl.

Everyone agreed and began to leave the room. Link, however, couldn't help thinking about Sturgeon's reaction to hearing about the mirror, and why did he copy down the markings on the girl's arms? The only conclusion Link could reach was that Sturgeon knew more about the girl than he was telling.

**There you go. The first chapter to my first serious story. R and R.**


	2. December 23

**Here it is. It took me a while to finish this one, but I'll try to have the next one done faster.**

Chapter 2

(BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP)

A pair of amber eyes shot open at the sound of loud beeping. The imp looked around the room she was in, hoping to find some familiarity in her surroundings, but with no success. Not only did she not recognize the room she was in, but the coloring was strange. That, and there was what looked like a dead person lying on a bed beside hers with the covers pulled up over their face. She tried to recall how she'd gotten here, but discovered that she didn't remember. To her horror, she discovered she couldn't even remember where she came _from_ or even _who_ she was, for that matter. Her mind was a complete blank. She tried to think, but the loud ringing in her ears was making her head hurt.

Then, just when she thought things couldn't get any weirder, a young teenage boy got up from beside the bed she was in and pushed a button on some digital clock next to her bed, which stopped the beeping, much to her relief. He looked to be about 17 or 18 and had a strange color of hair which she had never seen before. He also wore a green sweat shirt and red sweat pants, colors and clothing which she did recognize.

For a while, he seemed preoccupied with getting the sleepiness out of his eyes and scratching his butt, but then his eyes shot open, as if remembering something. That was when he turned his attention to her. For a moment, they just stared at each other, until the boy finally spoke up.

"Hi…my name is Link Faron. What's your name?"

The imp assumed he was asking her for her name, but she still couldn't remember what it was."

"I…I don't know." she said.

"You mean you don't remember?" asked Link with a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah, I don't remember anything at all." she replied, holding her head which still hurt.

"Last night, I was up on Snowpeak Mountain and I found you inside a cave and you were lying next to a mirror with markings on it's surface that looked similar to the ones on your arms. Does any of that ring a bell?" asked Link.

The imp thought for a moment, but she didn't recall anything like that happening.

"I'm sorry, but the only thing I can remember is waking up to a loud ringing and a splitting headache." she replied.

"Oh, I'll fix that. Wait here." said Link, leaving the room.

As soon as he did, something flickered inside the Imp's mind. A word of some type, one that was supposed to mean something. She could only recall the first part of it, "Mid." She knew this word stood out from all the others because it had some sort of meaning that pertained to her, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was.

"Mid?" she mouthed the word, hoping to recollect what it might mean.

After a moment, she realized it was her name. At least that's what she thought it was, but somehow, it still didn't sound quite right. What other words had "mid" in them. Midstream? Midday? Midnight? That last one, Midnight, sounded more like it. Before she could ponder this further, however, Link came back into the room with a pill and a glass of water and sat down beside her.

"Try this." he said, holding the pill to her.

"What is it?" questioned the imp, taking the pill.

"It's an aspirin. It'll help the headache go away. Swallow it with water." said Link, handing her the glass of water.

The imp popped the pill into her mouth and downed it with a swig of water and finished the whole glass when she realized how thirsty she was, but quickly regretted it once her stomach cramped up.

"Oooohhh." she moaned, dropping the empty glass as she fell back, holding her stomach.

"I think you drank too fast. Don't worry, though, just let it settle and you'll be okay." said Link.

"At least I'm not hungry anymore." croaked the imp.

Link would have pointed out that she'd be pretty hungry once her stomach got better, but realized that she probably didn't want to think about food right now, and it wouldn't make a difference anyway since she'd know when she was hungry.

"Oh, by the way, I think I'm starting to remember my name." groaned the imp.

"Really, what is it?" asked Link.

"I think it starts with the word "mid" in it, but the rest is still lost on me. I think it sounded like 'midnight' or something like that." replied the imp.

"Midnight? Was it 'Madonna' or 'Malcolm?'" asked Link.

No, it sounded like it had 'midnight' in it." said the imp.

Link frowned with confusion.

"'Midnight,' Midni,' 'Midnuh-"

"That's it." said the imp.

"Which one?" asked Link.

"Midna. That's my name." replied Midna.

"That's a nice name. It does sound a bit like 'midnight.'" complimented Link.

"Thanks." said Midna.

"So, do you remember anything else?" asked Link.

Midna thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"Not yet, but it might come back to me sooner or later."

"Well, in the mean time, how are you feeling?" asked Link.

"I'm starting to feel better. My stomach ache is gone and my head's starting to feel better, too." replied Midna.

"Awesome. Since you're here, you might want to get cleaned off and get some warmer clothes on." suggested Link.

"Wear am I gonna get anything to wear? I doubt anyone around here is as small as me." replied Midna.

"I'll see if Joel or Zill has anything to wear." said Link, but then he thought about Zill and figured that he probably wiped his nose on half the things he wore.

"On second thought, I'll just ask Joel."

"Hold on, what's that over there?" asked Midna, pointing to the bed with a person completely covered up by the bed spread.

"That's my younger brother, Colin. He sometimes sleeps like that." replied Link.

_He must be one heavy sleeper if he can sleep through all this._ thought Midna.

---------

(Joel and Zill's room)

The door opened silently and closed behind a figure who tiptoed over to Joel's bed where the boy lay sleeping. The figure leaned over and shook Joel slowly.

"Joel…Joel." whispered Link as he shook the kid slightly.

"Mmm?" mumbled Joel as his eyelids lifted slightly.

"Do you got an extra shirt and pants?" asked Link.

"Why?" asked mumbled Joel groggily.

"It's for that girl I found on Snowpeak yesterday. She needs something to wear, and I was wondering if you had anything since you and she are both the same size." replied Link.

"Is she awake?" asked Joel, sitting up.

"Well yeah, but she needs to have something to wear before everyone starts bugging her with questions. That, and she's having trouble remembering things." said Link.

"You mean she has amnesia?" asked Joel, now fully awake.

"So far, yeah, but I was able to help her remember her name, which is Midna." replied Link.

"Mida?" asked Joel.

"No, 'Mid-na." said Link.

"Oh…never heard that name before." pondered Joel.

"Well, anyways, do you got some extra clothes she can use?" continued Link.

"Yeah, sure, there should be some sweaters, shirts, and sweat pants over in that drawer." said Joel, pointing to a dresser at the end of his bed.

"Thanks." said Link, heading over to the said dresser.

He opened the drawers and pulled out some green sweat pants and a red shirt that both looked to be Midna's size.

"Actually, I was going to wear that shirt." protested Joel.

"No problem." said Link, switching the red shirt for a black one.

"You can use that one." said Joel.

"Thanks." said Link, leaving the room, clothing in tow.

Link carried the items back to his room, but Midna was nowhere to be found, though he did hear someone using the shower inside his bathroom. Right about then, Colin emerged from the blankets that had all but swallowed him the previous night. He looked around the room for a moment before everything came back to him.

"Wait, where's the girl you found?" he asked.

"Her name's Midna, and she's in the shower. I got her some clothes from Joel." said Link.

As soon as he finished, the shower went silent, and a moment later, the door opened slightly, and Midna poked her head out of the bathroom.

"You got any clothes yet?" she asked.

"Right here." said Link tossing the shirt and sweat pants to her.

"Thanks." replied Midna, grabbing the pants and shirt and disappearing back into the bathroom with them.

A moment later, she re-emerged from the bathroom in her new attire, which fit pretty well.

"You look good, but we still need to find you some shoes before you can go outside." said Link.

"Okay, but what do we do until then?" asked Midna.

"Want to meet the family?" asked Colin.

Midna looked uneasy at the thought of meeting a house full of strangers.

"I've…I don't know. I mean, I look totally different from both of you. What will they think when they see me?" asked Midna.

"Actually, everyone saw you last night." said Link.

"They did?" asked Midna, astonished.

"They all saw you when Link brought you in from outside and put you to bed and gave you some soup." replied Colin.

"Oh…what did they think of me, then?" asked Midna

"Some of them thought you had frost bite because of your skin color, but the rest of them thought you looked adorable." said Link.

"Okay, and what about the ones who thought I had frost bite- whatever that is? Asked Midna, still unsure.

"Actually, I was one of them, most of us thought you had frost bite, which is what happens when you get too cold, your skin turns black, but don't worry, you look fine to me." assured Colin.

"Oh, that's good, I guess." said Midna, feeling better.

"Well we should probably see what everyone's doing. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting." said Link, exiting the room.

"Yeah, you're probably right." replied Midna, following him.

Link, Midna, and Colin headed down to the kitchen where Mesa, Sue-Belle, Sturgeon, Orca (who is wearing a shirt), Pergie, Jaggle, and Sera were all getting themselves breakfast.

"Anyone else up, yet?" asked Link, noticing only a handful of relatives.

"Nope, we're the only ones." replied Mesa, munching on a sandwich he'd made from the bread and condiments that were strewn about on the counter top he was sitting on.

"Say, whose your friend?" asked Orca, taking a bite out an apple.

Midna was quick to introduce herself.

"My name is Midna, but that's all I remember right now." she said.

Everyone stared at her in confusion.

"She's not kidding. When she woke up this morning, she was asking where she was and who I was. She didn't even remember anything about last night." said Link.

"Yeah, about that. Did Link really bring me in from Snowpeak Mountain?" asked Midna.

"Must be a case of trauma induced memory loss. It happens from time to time. And yes, Link found you half frozen and starving on Snowpeak." replied Sturgeon.

"Don't worry, we don't think less of you because you look different or anything." assured Uncle Jaggle.

"Yeah, if you need anything, just let us know." said Aunt Pergie.

"Well, I could use some shoes." said Midna."

---------

Eventually, Midna got acquainted with everyone and felt more at ease around them. After having breakfast, which consisted of bacon, eggs, and left over soup from the previous night, Gramma laid out her plans for the day.

"Okay, what we have to do is get the decorations set up. Lights on the outside, tinsel and paper chains on the inside, and two Christmas trees need to be set up. The small one in the main room beside the fireplace, the big one in the courtyard." she said.

"Alright, whose going to do what?" asked Abe.

Everyone leaned in.

"Since Link, Mesa, Jaggle, Abe, Rusl, Orca, and Haunch will put the lights and wreaths up outside on the roof. The rest of you will help me make the paper chains and set the tinsel up, along with the Christmas Tree in the family room. Once that's done, we'll all work together on the tree in the courtyard." said Gramma. "Any questions?"

Midna raised her hand.

"Yes, Midna?" asked Gramma.

"What will I be doing?" asked Midna.

"You can help us decorate the inside while the boys take care of the outside." said Gramma.

"Yep, and I get the girls' job." groaned Grampa Sturgeon.

"That's because you use a cane to move around, half the time." said Gramma.

(7 minutes later…)

Orca, Rusl, Abe, Jaggle, Haunch, Mesa, and Link stood in front of the mansion with bags and bags of Christmas lights.

"This could take a while." said Link.

Orca took out a set of instructions he'd written out the day before.

"Alright, Mesa, Link, you guys get the front. Rusl, Abe, you guys take the left side. Jaggle, Haunch, you guys will help me get the top of the house." he said.

"Got it." said everyone in unison, and then went to work getting the lights up.

--------

Meanwhile, the family room had become a workhouse of activity. The furniture had all been rearranged around a single table, which was being used to make paper chains, tinsel, and other such decorations which I can't remember the names of.

Gramma was off in the kitchen making cookies and hot cocoa for everyone while the rest of the girls made paper chains and other decorations while Talo, Joel, Zill, and Colin set them up around the house. Beth was helping Midna cut out red and green strips of construction paper to make into paper chain links. While they were working, Beth noticed Midna seemed a bit distant.

"Midna, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?" asked Beth.

"No, it's just that even though I can't remember anything, there's something about making chains that kind of bothers me." the imp admitted. "It's like something bad happened to me in the past that involved chains."

"Oh that. Well these aren't actually chains, they're just a way of using cheap materials to make pretty looking decorations, like tinsel or lights." said Sue-Belle.

"People just call them chains because they happen to look like them." said Pergie.

"Well still, I just don't feel very comfortable around them. Can I do something different?" asked Midna.

"Sure, why don't you go see what Gramma's doing." suggested Sera.

"Alright." said Midna, getting up and heading to the kitchen where Gramma was pulling some freshly baked cookies out of the oven.

"Uh, hey." said Midna meekly.

Upon seeing Midna, Gramma's face lit up.

"Why hello, Midna. Is there anything I can do for you?" asked Gramma.

"Actually, I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you." replied Midna, feeling more confident after the pleasant greeting.

"Oh, well I just finished these cookies and was about to take them out to the guys who are working on the outside of the house. Maybe you could take these to them." said Gramma.

"Sure thing." said Midna, taking the tray of cookies.

She headed over to the foyer and got Zill's snow boots on, which were a bit big for her tiny feet, but they would have to do for now. She then went outside and saw Link and Mesa up on the roof over the front door.

"I got cookies if anyone's hungry." called out Midna.

"Sweet." said Mesa and Link in unison as they climbed down the ladder they'd set up and took a few cookies off the platter Midna was holding.

"We can take these up to the rest of the guys." offered Mesa, taking the plate from Midna.

"Can I see what you're doing?" asked the imp.

"Sure." said Link, picking up Midna and putting her on his shoulders so she rode piggy back as he followed Mesa back up the ladder.

Link climbed to the top of the house and set Midna down and got back to work setting Christmas lights onto the side of the house.

"Could you hand me that chord, over there?" asked Link, pointing to an extra set of lights.

"Sure. So why are you trying to decorate the whole house if no one's around to see it?" asked Midna, handing Link the lights he asked for.

"Well we want something to look at when we all climb Snowpeak tomorrow." Link replied, plugging one chord into the other.

"What are we gonna climb snow peak for?" asked Midna, confused.

"It's something we'll do for Christmas Eve. We all climb, look at the mountains, watch the sun set behind them, and then we'll watch the house light up at 8 PM when it's completely dark. We just need to set the lights up and make sure everything's in working order, first." said Link.

"Do you really need all that to have a good Christmas?" asked Midna.

Link thought about it for a moment.

"I guess not, but it's a good way to spread some holiday cheer as well as having something to do with the rest of the family. Years from now, it won't matter what we did together, but how we spent that time with those we loved. It's all about how much fun you have with everyone that counts. That's why we do stuff with decorations and mountain climbing." said Link.

"Oh, I see." said Midna. "I think I remember something like that back where I came from, but it seems so distant…a lot more than it should." said Midna.

"Well, whatever happened back where you came from, it's behind you. The best we can do for now is to continue living life and have some fun while we're at it." said Link.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks for reassuring me, I feel better now." replied Midna, leaning against Link as they sat there.

"Hey, no problem. It's not often I get to meet someone like you." said Link, putting his arm around his imp companion.

For the first time since she woke up, Midna not only felt at ease, but safe, as well. Safe with her friend, Link.

**Yeah, sorry about the crappy chapter, but I couldn't think up a whole lot of decorating details. ope you liked the rest of it, though. R and R.**


	3. December 24

**Here it is, the third chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.**

Chapter 3

Link's eyes opened, slightly, taking in the morning light that had filled his room. As he glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings, the events of the last two days came back to him.

They'd arrived here at the Snowpeak Ski Resort via airplane, he'd climbed Snowpeak Mountain, found a strange, but adorable, imp named Midna, who couldn't remember anything, brought here back home and nursed her back to health, and she helped them decorate the house. He smiled thinking about their conversation up on the roof. After that, they'd continued working on the lights for the next 2 hours and then had to test them out to make sure both the lights and the timer were working right, which had been quite frustrating, but better to find out then than later when they needed them. Then they'd gone back inside to find the inside of the house decorated and a tree sitting in the family room next to the fireplace. They all went outside and set up the big Christmas Tree in the center of the courtyard and decorated it with personal ornaments that they'd all made themselves years before. These bulbs were special because they had names and pictures on them, some recent, some from childhoods, which told a bit about their family history, making the tree they were placed on a symbol of family unity, which was highlighted further when the lights on the tree were turned on. These lights were also different, because instead of just glowing like the one inside, they twinkled and blinked, giving viewers something special to look at from a distance.

Midna had asked why they didn't decorate the tree inside the house like this since it was warmer there and Uli told her that while being inside was nice, this family preferred to enjoy the snow and ice while it was there, something which a lot of other families didn't do when they had the chance, thus showing the uniqueness of the Faron Family.

After they finished, they'd gone back inside and had cookies and hot cocoa by the fire. While they sat there, Midna sat in Link's lap and they listened to each other's jokes and humorous stories, but when Link looked down at Midna again, she'd fallen asleep. Right around then, everyone figured it was time to go to bed and Link carried Midna to the spare bedroom and tucked her in and went back to his own room.

As he sat there thinking about all this, he felt something beside him move. He turned his head and saw Midna's head sticking out of the covers, right next to him. How she got there was beyond him since he remembered laying her down in the spare room they had. Not wanting anyone to think less of him for having what looked like an under age girl in bed with him, Link decided to find out what happened and shook Midna slightly to wake her up.

"Midna." whispered Link, shaking her.

"Hmm?" she moaned, opening her amber eyes.

"What are you doing in my bed?" he asked.

Midna looked nervous, but worked up the courage to tell him.

"I…I had a bad dream." she said, looking down.

"What kind of dream?" asked Link.

"Chains…there were chains everywhere, all around me, even on me." said Midna, fighting back tears. "I don't know what they meant, but I was terrified. I think it was a memory."

Unable to hold back, Midna burst into tears, burying her face in her small hands. She knew it was a stupid idea to go into Link's bed, she only wanted to be around someone she felt safe with and thought that by sleeping next to him, she wouldn't have to be afraid, but all she'd done was make him mad at her and made a fool of…why was he holding her?

Link held her in a warm embrace.

"Midna, whatever happened is over. No one's going to hurt you here as long as I'm around. My dad taught me everything, how to fight and how to shoot a gun, so if anyone tries to touch you, they'll have to get through me first, and believe me, I'm not easy to take down." said Link as he held Midna close to him.

Instantly, all the fear, shame, and hurt that Midna felt evaporated and she deflated in Link's arms. He understood her feelings and was protecting her. Only then did it dawn on her that she truly was safe and whoever had mistreated her would never be able to reach her here with all these people who cared about her, even if they didn't know a whole lot about her.

"I'll always be here for you, Midna." continued Link. "It doesn't matter to me if you're red, yellow, black, or white, and it doesn't matter if you're a Hylian, a Gerudo, an imp, or something from outer space, and from the looks of things, my family doesn't seem to mind, either. You'll always have a place with us."

"Thank you, Link…again." said Midna as tears of joy filled her eyes. "I'm not afraid anymore…not even of paper chains."

"Wait, what?" asked Link in confusion.

----------

It was now 5 PM, and everyone had begun climbing up Mount Snowpeak. During the day, Link and Rusl took Midna to a clothing store near the airport so she could pick out a snow suit and some clothes to fit her, which now came in handy as she dug into the snow and climbed up the mountain side next to Link who was helping Grampa Sturgeon move up since the elderly man couldn't make it on his own. Mesa carried Gramma while Zelda and Sue-Belle kept him from falling. Orca seemed to be doing fine on his own, which wasn't surprising since he regularly taught Link, Zelda, and Colin, self-defense when they visited Outset Island. The rest of the adults were helping the children up the hill while the children themselves were having to deal with carrying their sleds with them. The adults just carried theirs over their shoulders while the children had a more difficult time since their sleds were just as big as they were.

"Hey, Link!" called Talo. "Where's your snow board?"

"I had to leave it up on snow peak so I could carry Midna back down." replied Link.

"Wow, I thought you were gonna wipe out, but you couldn't even do that." laughed Talo.

"Yeah…but at least I don't have to carry it up right now, and I can still kick your butt on the way down, tonight." shot back Link.

Talo's smile faded.

"Hey Talo!" called Zelda. "Dig your sled into the snow and use it to pull yourself up. That always helps me."

"I guess that makes sense." Talo said to himself, and began doing what Zelda suggested.

The others quickly caught on and started using their sleds as handles to pull themselves up the snowy mountain side. Poor Link and Mesa, however, were left behind with the grandparents which they still had to assist, and without sleds, to boot.

"Oh, that's okay, Mesa, I think I can walk from here." said Gramma.

"Are you sure?" asked Mesa.

"Hey, I'm only as old as I feel, and I haven't gotten to walk in the snow in a really long time." said Gramma as she hopped down and started climbing up the snow.

"Hey, Sturgeon!" called Gramma.

"Wassat?" asked Sturgeon, looking over at Gramma.

"I'll bet you still can't beat me up a hill." laughed Gramma as she took off, running up the hill as fast as she could.

"Dang, all these years of waitin had better pay off. If age don't stop that woman, nothing will." said Grampa Sturgeon as he left Link and took off after Granny.

Link fell to his knees and hands. He thought he wouldn't be able to make it up the mountain, but then he felt someone tugging at his arm.

"Come on, let's go, we're halfway up." said Midna.

Link looked up to see some of the children already at the top. They were too far away for Link to see, but one kid in particular stood out. One with a reddish snow suit on. One holding Link's snow board above his head triumphantly.

"Talo." growled Link.

Link's cell phone vibrated.

"Yeah?" asked Link, opening his cell.

"Pretty sweet board you got." cackled Talo from the other end.

Link would have told him not to throw it over the mountain, but decided not to give him any ideas and simply hung up on the little rat.

"What was it?" asked Midna.

"Talo beat us up the mountain and now he has my snow board, the thing I use to go down the snow hill faster than sledders can." replied Link.

"Well, as long as he doesn't throw it over, we don't have anything to worry about." said Midna.

"I guess you're right. We'd better get moving. Wouldn't want to miss the sunset." said Link.

But as he continued climbing, he looked to his left to see Mesa lying face down in the snow. He ran over to Mesa and tried to lift him up.

"Don't." said Mesa.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Link.

"My back's messed up. You're Gramma's heavier than she looks." replied Mesa.

Link felt Mesa's back, and after a moment, he figured out what the problem was.

"Hold still and relax. If you tighten up, it will hurt." said Link who then pressed down on Mesa's back.

Loud popping noises could be heard.

"ACK!" shouted Mesa, but after a moment, he seemed to recover.

"Thanks." said Mesa, getting back up.

"No prob. My dad taught me that." replied Link.

"I'll remember that." said Mesa, helping Link to his feet.

They continued up the mountain and Link noticed Midna had gone on ahead of them but was having trouble getting up further. It didn't take Link long to catch up with her.

"That won't do. Just hang on." said Link, hoisting Midna onto his shoulders for the second time, and then continued climbing up.

-------

Sometime later, as Link was climbing, he felt Midna lift off of his shoulders and looked up to see Mesa setting her down on the edge of the mountain top. Talo and Beth then extended their hands to Link, who grabbed on and was hoisted up with the rest of the family who applauded.

Link checked the clock on his cell phone.

_5:47_

He'd been climbing for 47 minutes. About 17 minutes longer than it took last time. As if he were reading his mind, Talo spoke up.

"How long did you say it took you to get up here, last time?" he asked, smirking.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, Link glanced to his left and saw Pergie standing their holding her baby, Malo. A fat woman with a baby made it up before him, somehow. First Talo beating him up and mocking him with his own snowboard, and now this.

"Gufrgh." groaned link, and then promptly fell backward.

When he came to, he was lying against a small bank of snow and Midna was standing over him, holding a thermos to his lips.

"Uh, what happened?" asked Link, taking the thermos and gulping down it's content.

"You do remember me, right?" asked Midna, looking at him suspiciously.

"No, I don't have amnesia, too." replied Link, sitting up. "But what happened after I fell over?"

"Well, you blacked out, so Abe and Orca dragged you over to the snow pile that the kids made while everyone was waiting for us and I've been trying to wake you up for the past 10 minutes." said Midna.

"I must have been sleeping." said Link.

"I guess so." said Midna.

"Still, how did Pergie beat me up the mountain when she weighs more than I do and was carrying a baby?" asked Link.

"I think I saw her giving the baby to Jaggle while they were climbing, and she probably beat you because I weigh more than Malo does." said Midna.

"Makes sense." said Link.

"Hey, Link's awake." said Zelda.

"How ya feeling?" asked Sturgeon.

"Not as young as I once did." replied Link.

All the adults busted out laughing, especially Gramma, Sturgeon, and Orca.

For the next hour, everyone sat around telling jokes and stories, drinking cocoa, playing games, and just enjoying each other's company while they watched the sun set behind the mountains in the distance. Then came 7:59 PM. Everyone turned their attention toward the mansion below. The timer on the lights were set to go off at 8 PM, so everyone watched eagerly, waiting for the lights to ignite.

"Another 12 seconds." said Orca, looking at his watch.

Everyone counted down.

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1...Nothing.

Everyone went back to what they were doing previously.

Orca frowned in confusion.

"I dunno, musta been a few seconds later than-"

Right then, the entire was set ablaze by green, red, blue, and yellow as the lights came on. Everyone whooped, applauded, and snapped pictures at the masterpiece that they'd constructed down below.

"Why watch it from a distance? Let's go see it up close!" said Haunch.

The children ran for their sleds and raced each other down the mountain. The adults, however, stayed behind.

"Now that they're gone…" said Haunch jokingly.

Everyone busted out laughing again.

"I think Gramma and Grampa will need some help getting down." said Zelda.

"Aren't you gonna slide down?" asked Uli.

"Naw, if we go down, we go down together. I'm helping Gramma and Grampa get down the mountain." said Link.

"You've certainly matured a lot since you were a boy." said Rusl.

"Hey where's Midna?" asked Link, looking around.

"I think in all the excitement, she went down the mountain with the children." said Sera.

"Who'd she go with?" asked Link.

"I saw her riding with Colin on his sled. She'll be okay." replied Sera.

"We'll we'd better get moving then." said Orca.

Getting down the mountain wasn't as hard as it seemed. Everyone just sat down and went down the mountain like a kid would on a slide. Of course, Link, Rusl, Zelda, Uli, and Jaggle had to constantly assist Gramma and Sturgeon to make sure they weren't having any trouble. Orca, however, was no such species, and was at the bottom before any of the adults.

"Hey, hurry up and get down here, I'm growing a beard." shouted Orca.

After everyone got to the bottom, they all stood around the mansion, admiring the winking lights that seemed to give the house a magical aura of it's own. That was just the outside. The courtyard was something different. There, everyone could see the lights up on the roof glowing, and at the same time, see the decorations on the inside. Then there was the courtyard tree, which showed the personal ornaments and the twinkling lights in all their glory for everyone to see. But Link would not have traded any of this for the opportunity to be with his family, even if for a few days. All of it put together made Link wonder if he wasn't in heaven already.

--------

After everyone sang Silent Night around the tree, they'd all gone to bed so they could be ready for Christmas day, the next day. As Link lay in his bed, thinking about everything that had happened, and pondering the last day that everyone would have together tomorrow, the door to his room opened and he heard the sound of small feet tapping the floor as the figure made it's way to his bed side.

"Link?" asked a familiar voice.

"Yes, Midna?" asked Link.

"I…I wanted to apologize for ditching you back on the mountain. I thought you were coming with us." said Midna.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about. I'd have done the same if Gramma and Grampa didn't need help getting down." said Link. "Besides, we all made it back here, so it's not like anyone got left behind."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings." said Midna.

"Not at all." assured Link.

"Alright…well…there's something else." said Midna.

"What is it?" asked Link.

"Is it okay if I sleep next to you, tonight? I don't want to be alone." said Midna.

"I guess so." said Link, pulling back the covers.

"Thanks." said Midna, climbing into bed with Link who pulled said covers up around them.

As he did, Midna curled up next to him. He turned to face her and looked straight into her eyes which seemed to glow in the dark. He felt himself getting lost in those amber orbs until he felt a tiny hand caressing the side of his face, obviously Midna's hand. No words were spoken as they continued looking into each other's eyes. Link knew he adored her, but he couldn't deny this new warm feeling for her inside of him. Was it just friendship? Or was it so much more? He couldn't help putting his arms around her, bringing her into another warm embrace. As she rested her head against his shoulder, the feeling intensified and Link couldn't deny it anymore. He loved Midna.

"Merry Christmas, Midna." he whispered in her ear.


	4. December 25

**My apologies. I originally was going to wait until the day after Christmas to post this since everyone would be too busy to read it, but I didn't finish it until today, so again, my apologies, for those of you who were waiting. On with the story:**

Chapter 4:

Link's eyes opened slowly, taking in his surroundings and remembering where it was.

Then it hit him: This was the big day. It was finally here.

He turned to his imp companion who had curled up in his arms the previous night.

"Wake up, Midna, it's Christmas." he whispered.

"Hmm?" moaned Midna, opening her amber eyes.

"It's Christmas." repeated Link.

"You mean…it's time to open presents?" asked Midna, now fully awake.

"Yup, we just need to wait for everyone to wake up before-"

"WAKE UP, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" shouted Talo from outside their room.

Colin, who had been snoozing peacefully underneath the bed covers- which Midna had pulled off of his face while he was asleep- was now charging out the door and down the hall to the family room.

"Dang, he's in a hurry." said Midna, wide eyed.

"As are all kids this time of year." replied Link. "As you get older, Christmas loses it's touch, somewhat, but for a kid, it's the most magical time of the year because it means presents, chocolate, family, and other goodies. A combination they've been waiting for all year long."

"What are we waiting for?" asked Midna.

"Good question." replied Link, getting up from his bed and heading out the door.

Midna ran after him and they went down the hallway and straight to the family room where half the mansion's population was waiting for them. Among them were Orca, Gramma, Grampa, Pergie, Malo, Talo, Beth, and Colin.

"You just can't win, can you?" laughed Talo.

_He's never gonna let that lost bet go, is he? _Thought Link.

"The vacation's not over, yet, Talo." shot back Midna, catching on to their source less rivalry.

Just then, Mesa, Sue-Belle, Abe, Rose, Joel, Zill, Sera, Hanch, and Jaggle entered the room, followed by Rusl and Uli, completing the set. This was it. Everyone was here, together on Christmas Day.

"So when do we begin?" asked Colin.

"Well, who wants to help pass out the presents?" asked Rusl.

Everyone raised their hands, including Midna.

"Hmm…since Midna's new, why don't we let her?" suggested Grampa Sturgeon.

"Sounds like a good idea." said Rusl.

With that, Midna went around the room, fetching everyone boxes that had their names on them until the last present had been given to it's respective owner. While everyone was oohing and aahing at their new gifts, Midna couldn't help feeling a bit left out since she had no presents of her own. Nonetheless, she knew she'd have to try to see the positive side of things since they didn't expect to find her where they did. As Link examined the Ancient Hylian Sword he got, a gift from Orca, no doubt, his glance shifted over to the Christmas Tree itself.

"Hey, Midna, I think you missed one." said Link, pointing to the tree with his sword.

"Sure, gimme a minute." replied the imp, strolling over to the tree and looking through.

"Higher." said Link.

Midna only needed to look up to see a medium sized box less than a foot above her head. It's dark green wrapping helped it blend in with the pine needles which was probably why she didn't see it before. She pulled it out of the branches and checked the tag to see whose it was and was surprised to see her own name on it.

"To: Midna, From: All of us." It read.

'_Liar_.' Thought Midna, knowing it was from Link.

Who else would have done something like this for her, especially after everything else he'd done for her benefit.

She ran back to Link, sat down beside him, and quickly tore the wrapping off, knowing Link was watching to see her reaction. The wrapping came off and on the box was displayed some sort of computer like device with a screen on the front, but no buttons. The label read 'iPhone.' Midna stared at it in confusion.

"It's what we use to communicate with each other from a distance." said Link, knowing Midna probably wasn't from this world, and therefore, probably didn't know what phones were.

"How does it work?" asked Midna.

"I'll show you." said Link, opening the box, taking out the phone, putting it together, and turning it on.

After that, Link showed Midna how to operate it as well as the numerous features on it until Midna was familiar with them.

"Man, this must have been expensive." said Midna.

"Ah, it's nothing." replied Link, trying not to think about his now empty wallet.

"Wait, you didn't even know you were going to run into me. Where exactly did you get this?" asked Midna.

"You remember when we went to that store in town to get you a snow suit, and I said I had to go to the bathroom?" asked Link.

"Yeah?" replied Midna.

"Well I actually went to the AT&T store across the road and picked out that phone, bought it, and hid it in my coat when I came back." said Link, smirking.

"Clever." admired the imp.

"Oh, and that's not all. I also got you this." said Link, handing Midna a green plastic casing for her phone.

Midna slipped it over her iPhone and couldn't help admiring how it seemed to fit perfectly, leaving the screen and camera lens on the back uncovered, almost like it was apart of the phone itself.

"That's awesome." said Midna.

"It should be. It protects the phone's surface in case you drop it, and it's glow-in-the-dark in case you lose it." said Link.

"Glow-in-the-dark?" asked Midna in confusion.

"Yup, it's exactly what it sounds like. It glows when it's in the dark." replied Link.

"How does that work?" asked Midna.

"I think it absorbs sunlight and then reflects it, making it glow when there's no other light, or something like that." said Link.

"That'll definitely come in handy." said Midna.

Soon after, the children went outside to play while Gramma, Sera, Sue-Belle, Abe, Rose, Uli, Rusl, Zelda, Link, and Midna stayed to prepare Christmas Dinner and they worked in the kitchen for a good 3 hours before everything was cooked and prepared. After that, they had to get the dishes, silver ware, and tables ready. Thankfully, the rest of the family helped out with this, and by 3 PM, everything was finished and everyone collapsed onto whatever they could set themselves on and rested for an hour. Around 4 PM, everyone sat down to Christmas Dinner, which consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, elixir soup, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and many other dishes that took quite a while to prepare. Before they ate, everyone took turns telling what they were thankful for. Then Midna's turn came.

"Well, I'm thankful for the wonderful man who rescued me and the kind family who took me in and clothed me and fed me when I was in need. All I ask the God for now is a way to repay them, however they may desire it." she said.

"That was beautiful." said Uli.

Next came Link's turn since he sat right next to Midna.

"Well, I think in order for you all to know how much all this means to me, I think you first need to know about me." began Link.

"While I'm open and happy around all of you, I'm stony and silent around others because I'm a bit shy around strangers, even as I near my 18th year. Because of this, making friends has never been easy for me. All my life, I've been alone with no one to call a friend, my family being the only exception. Many times, I heard about friends having parties and sleepovers at each other's houses and so many times I wanted to do something like that. That chance came when we started discussing what we'd do for Christmas back in August. I remembered how much fun it was going to visit my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents on Outset Island, but I also liked my relatives who lived close by and wanted for all of us to spend Christmas together in one place. So far, it has been everything that I hoped it would be, but then something else happened; I found Midna up on the mountain. At first, I thought she was just going to mess things up, but I'm glad to see that I was wrong. Not only has she been more than helpful in making this a good Christmas for all of us, but she's been the closest thing to friend that I've ever had. With Midna, I've been able to open up to her that I never could with anyone else, and by that I mean that I've been able to talk to her about whatever is on my mind and feel at ease while talking to her. I know it may not sound like much, but it means the world to me."

Link then turned to Midna who was already wide eyed.

"Midna, you remember asking for a way to repay us?" he asked.

"Yeah." replied Midna.

"Well one way you could repay me is if you stayed with us."

Midna didn't know what to say and looked around to see everyone else looking just as surprised.

"Don't worry, I'll be happy to give whatever assistance is needed." said Link to everyone, including Midna herself.

Everyone remained silent, as if waiting to see what Midna had to say. After remembering how much Link had cared for her, and the fact that she didn't really have any other place to go, it didn't take her long to reach her decision.

"I'd be honored…if it's okay with everyone else." said Midna, smiling.

"Yes, you can stay with us." said Uli.

Rusl nodded in agreement.

Link's heart soared. At long last, he had a friend.

Merry Christmas, indeed.


	5. Epilogue

**Well this is it. Everyone's getting ready to go, but there is still some business to take care of.**

Epilogue

A day had passed and Link's family was nearly finished packing up their things and loading them into the vans. At 12:30 they would ride to the airport and wait until 1:00 PM when the planes would take them all back home. They started packing at 8:30 and planned to finish by 12:00, but finished early at 11:30, leaving them an hour to do whatever they wanted.

"So what's Ordon like?" asked Midna.

"It's a lot warmer there than it is here." said Link. "Plus, it's got a crystal clear lake for swimming in and a ranch with horses and haystacks to climb."

"Horses?" asked Midna.

"Yeah, they're big animals that we ride on. I'm sure you'll like them. My favorite one is called 'Epona.'" replied Link.

Then Link felt someone tapping his shoulder and turned around to see Talo in his snow suit.

"We still haven't finished our bet."

Then Link remembered that they hadn't finished their contest on Snowpeak.

"We have to be going, soon." he replied.

"We still got an hour left." said Talo, showing the clock on his cell phone screen.

It didn't take Link very long to reach his decision.

"Your on."

(Later…)

After climbing up the mountain side for a good 45 minutes, the two contestants finally made it to the top. Colin, Beth, Zelda, Midna, Joel, and Zill waited below, watching the two through binoculars.

Link and Talo both stretched and cracked themselves to get ready for the big fall.

"Okay, this is it. We'll see which one works better. Sleds or boards." said Link, buckling his boots into the braces on his snowboard.

"Sleds." said Talo plainly.

"Don't get too cocky, it's not over yet." said Link standing up on his board, getting used to it.

"You're one to talk. I'm ready to go and you're still getting onto your board."

"Ready when you are, shorty."

With that, Talo ran toward the edge of the mountain and shot over while laying down on his board.

Link just leaned forward until he was sliding down the mountain after Talo. At first, it looked like he was going to stop, until Link started zig zagging which helped him pick up speed and soon he was on Talo's tail, which was when he decided to look back and nearly jumped up in surprise to see Link right behind him.

Link just smirked and snaked past him so that he was in front of him. Talo dug his arms into the snow, using them as paddles to move faster until he was finally able to get past Link, but then Link jumped into the air over Talo and spun around until he landed in front of him, facing the other way, but still going down the mountain.

Talo fought to keep up with him, but knew he was beat.

5 minutes later, Link streaked past the finish line with Talo following behind him.

"Start telling everyone how cool I am." said Link, smirking.

(1:00 PM/Hylian Airlines/Flight 216)

Everyone had hugged, kissed, said their goodbyes and went their seperate ways. Rusl, Uli, Link, Zelda, Colin, Jaggle, Pergie, Talo, Malo, Hanch, Sera, and Beth had all gone back to Ordon and Midna had gone with them, while Gramma, Abe, Rose, Joel, Zill, Mesa, Sue-Belle, Orca, and Grampa boarded a different plane which would take them back to Outset Island. The children may have had their fill, but to the older members, everyone seemed to have parted ways just as quickly as they had joined up.

Sturgeon was examining the marks he had sketched down on paper which he copied off Midna's arms when she had been discovered. As he looked at them, Orca set his bag up in the compartment above the seat and plopped down beside his older brother.

"I wish they'd make these seats softer, but I suppose I can't complain since they're alot cushier than they were in the days of our youth." said Orca, unzipping his brown leather jacket.

Upon hearing the zipping noise, Sturgeon remembered his own coat and realized he still had the hood up over his head. At least that explained why he was having trouble hearing the Captain speaking.

"What are you looking at?" asked Orca, eyeing Sturgeon's sketchings.

"You remember the markings on Midna's arms?" asked Sturgeon.

"Now I do. Why?" asked Orca.

"I remember these same markings on a mirror down in the Gerudo Desert. Do you know which mirror it was?" asked Sturgeon.

"You're alot smarter than I am when it comes to geography. If I knew, I'd be telling you."

"The last place I saw these marks was on the Shadow Mirror in the Al-Haram Coliseum down in Gerudia. The place where a tribe a Hylians, known as the Qurayza, were banished by the Gerudo Mudoran Prophet Ganondorf to the Sacred Realm."

At this, Orca's eyes widened.

"You mean the same tribe that opposed the Prophet Ganondorf and he forced them all into a mirror portal that he believed led to the underworld?" he asked.

"The same. Apparently, the tribe was never heard from again until a century later when a portal opened in front of the mirror and a 'demon child' with descriptions similar to that of Midna, wandered through the portal. From what I've heard from Gerudo mythology, the Gerudoes killed the demon child and then they killed it's mother who came out looking for him and then went through the portal to kill off all the other 'cursed Hylians' but they never came back out." replied Sturgeon. "I figured it was just a legend, but if I'm not mistaking, that was one of two mirrors that led to the sacred realm where the fabled golden power of the God rested, and Link may have singlehandedly discovered the second one on Snowpeak Mountain, which would mean that Midna was in fact one of the 'Cursed Hylians' from Gerudo mythology and she wandered through the portal by mistake or on purpose and now she can't remember it, for whatever reason."

"If that's true, then the prophesied reign of the Dark King may be upon us." said Orca, dread in his voice.

"I fear what the future may hold..."


End file.
